


Gourd Blossoms and Hubflowers

by insominia



Series: Domestic Wasteland Fluff [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: General, Humor, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 13:33:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15664206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insominia/pseuds/insominia
Summary: In which Paladin Danse completely misreads what Haylen and Nate are up to in the bathroom and overreacts accordingly.





	Gourd Blossoms and Hubflowers

The man who had dived headfirst into the fighting outside Cambridge Police Station had proven himself a worthy ally to the Gladius recon team stationed there. He had introduced himself as Nate, assured them that his dog didn't bite and set about making himself more useful than a veritable platoon of Initiates. After helping Paladin Danse recover the transmitter from ArcJet, Nate hadn't given a firm answer on joining the Brotherhood, chuckling as he said he'd not long retired from the military, but he stuck around anyway. He recovered tech for Haylen, cleared undesirables for Rhys and scavenged all sorts of useful junk from the surrounding area, never venturing too far and always back in time to share a meal. They'd all been long bored of ration packs so it was positively bliss when Nate found his way back with fresh meat or vegetables. None of them had any complaints and privately Danse was so convinced of Nate's potential he had already written up his recommendation to the Elder.

The first hint of a problem came a few months after Nate had joined them. He'd come back from one of his standard trips, he'd fed Dogmeat, cooked up some decent Brahmin steaks and disappeared into the station. Danse didn't give it a second thought, why would he? It was a few hours later when Danse headed for the office to lock up some spare ammo when he heard Haylen's voice coming from the bathroom.

"Oh my God, and you used to do this for your wife?"

Danse froze, his colour draining when he heard a response from the same room. He couldn't make out the words but it was unmistakeably Nate and whatever he said had Haylen laughing. For a moment Danse wasn't sure where to put himself. What on earth was Haylen doing in the bathroom with Nate?

"Here, feel that," Danse heard Nate say and Haylen gave a sound that sounded like a squeal, Danse hadn't heard her excited like that before.

"That feels _amazing_!"

Flushed with embarrassment Danse was still standing with his hand on the office door. Were Haylen and Nate fraternising? He hadn't noticed a particular friendship develop between the two, but then Danse would be the first to admit his inexperience in these matters. Short of them announcing their attention formally, in writing, Danse would likely miss it. Was it an issue though? Haylen was free to pursue a romance with who she wanted and Nate was as decent a wastelander as they could have hoped to have met. Despite that, there was a protective surge of warmth in his gut, if Haylen got hurt Danse would probably have to break a few of Nate's bones. On principle. Until then maybe he'd just have to have a word with them about discretion. He was about to move off when he heard Haylen say, "so you add that when it's boiling and let it settle?" Nate said something in response and Danse could _hear_ Haylen paying attention, "and you used to do this stuff pre-war?"

Danse frowned, maybe they weren't in a relationship after all? He was in danger of getting a headache trying to figure it out, so he shook it off and bent to put the ammo in the safe. A few seconds later he heard the bathroom door open. Nate's head popped out, scanning the room but completely missing Danse crouched in the other room. "Ok, it's clear, go _go_ ," Nate whispered hastily and Haylen slipped past him, almost running, with a bundle gathered in her arms. Nate followed a few moments after, wiping his hands on his trousers, staining the fabric where he touched it.

Danse stared for a moment and shook his head. It was probably nothing.  
But a few days later Nate strolled in with a small duffle bag which he dropped into Haylen's lap with a wink, "told you, this is the good stuff." Haylen's grin was wider than Danse had ever seen and then the bag was gone, hidden under her desk, but it wasn't there when Danse checked later that evening.

Haylen was acting strangely though. She had become furtive, secretive and though it wasn't affecting her work, Danse didn't like it. It wasn't like her to keep secrets and it could disrupt the way they worked as a team. She had started to spend her off time shut away in one of the upstairs rooms. The one-time Danse went up to check on her he had heard her scrambling at the sound of his knock. A shrill, " _just a minute_!" called out before she opened the door, and even then it was just a crack. Haylen smiled at him, flushed with her hood pulled on hastily.

"I was just checking...are you ok?" Danse asked, but she had just grinned and nodded.

"I'm fine...anything else?"

The following week there was another bag, another wink. Later that same evening Danse heard them in the bathroom again. This time he was determined to find out what it was and so he paused outside the door, listening.

"So the last one was _so_ good," Haylen was saying, "but I don't know how we can keep this going. I think Danse is already suspicious, it's going to be almost impossible to hide this on the Prydwen..."

"Hey open the window, they'll smell it otherwise," Nate said, absently, "and don't worry about it, I mean what are they gonna do kick you out of the Brotherhood?" he laughed, "well if they do you can set up shop, can you imagine selling this in Goodneighbor? They'd kill for this kind of stuff down there-"

Before he could hear Haylen's response Danse kicked the door harshly. It slammed open as Nate and Haylen scrabbled to hide whatever it was they were doing. But they weren't fast enough - bunsen burner, flasks, measuring cylinders. Danse recognised the signs of a makeshift chemistry station. It confirmed Danse's worst fears.

Both Nate and Haylen stood, staring at the floor in a way that reminded Danse of the younger Initiates when they were caught doing something they shouldn't. Not that he could imagine an Initiate messing around with chems.   
"You want to explain to me what's going on here?" Danse asked, his natural authority asserting itself in the face of his shock and confusion.

Haylen opened her mouth to say something but Nate cut across her, "it's nothing, Paladin-"

"The hell it isn't!" Danse snapped, "now I let you stay here because I thought you were helping us, but I don't know what you've gotten yourself and Haylen into but it stops now. If you think-" he broke off suddenly as he became aware of a scent lingering in the air. For a moment he wasn't sure what to make of it. The Commonwealth smelled, as had the Capital Wasteland before it. Even on the brightest, clearest day, there was always the lingering radiation in the background, as well as the ever-present aroma of a world that had yet to rebuild itself. But what Danse could smell now - it wasn't the smell of a bathroom with questionable plumbing, nor was it the acrid stench that came with cooking chems. This was positively _nice_.

"What is that?" he asked, inhaling deeply. Flowers? Perfume? _Surely not_.

Nate mumbled something so Danse snapped back, "I can't hear you, soldier."

Nate and Haylen exchanged a look and Nate said again, clearer this time, "it's carrot flower, sir. Carrot flower and melon blossom." Nate sighed, "I've been showing Haylen how to make cosmetics, just some tricks from before the war."

Danse could only stare at him. "Cosmetics?" he asked, uncertainly.  
Haylen passed over the duffle bag to him and Danse glanced over the contents, an assortment of pleasant aromas rising to meet him. There were various bars of _something_ , some oily, some solid and some rough to the touch, all of them in different sizes and colours. But there was more, a pre-war hairbrush, a pocket mirror, even a magazine of women showing off their hair from a time when they could worry about that sort of thing. Why was Haylen acting so secretive over something so inconsequential?

Danse looked up at her, really looked. Her skin looked cleaner and clearer than anyone Danse had ever met, how had he missed that? And how had he missed the lingering, almost fruity smell he noticed now. Her hair usually kept tight under a hood, hung over her shoulders looking so lustrous and fine that Danse was struck with the urge to stroke it. He didn't of course, settling instead to say, "I don't understand."

This time Haylen spoke up. "I'm sorry, sir. It's my fault. Nate made me some soap and we got a bit carried away...it's just well we only have Brotherhood issue soap and Nate showed me how to make uh...what was it again?"

"Shampoo?"

"Shampoo, right, it's like soap for the hair, sir," Haylen added, seeing Danse's confused look. "I asked Nate to keep it quiet because I didn't want you or Rhys to laugh at me for something so frivolous. I'm sorry, sir, it was silly of me." She slung the bag over her shoulder and slipped from the room leaving Danse standing in the doorway, while Nate bent to gather their scattered materials. Danse continued to stand and stare, not entirely sure as to what had just happened.

"I still don't understand," he sighed. Nate was looking up at him, considering for a moment, before he reached into his own bag and held out a bar of something wrapped in old newspaper.

"Here. Next time you have a wash, wet your hair, rub that over it and wash it out. See what you think."  
Nate gathered the last flask and followed Haylen out. Danse just stood there and after a short while Nate heard from the bathroom, "I don't understand."

But a few days later Danse found himself in the bathroom, shaving in tepid water - it never ran hot and contemplating the bar in his hand. He unwrapped it and gave it a sniff. It smelled clean, fresh and less floral than anything Haylen owned. It was surprisingly solid but left an almost oily residue where his fingers met it, and he still wasn't sure he understood. About ten minutes later Danse was draining the sink which had turned almost black from the dirt and grime that he had scrubbed from his hair, towelling his hair when he caught sight of himself in the cracked mirror. His hair looked great, better than that, it looked _incredible_. Danse hadn't even known hair could look good. He ran his fingers through it marvelling at the softness, regretting the lack of a decent mirror. "Outstanding."

Haylen checked the cells, checked the motor pool, checked the cells again before she finally called out, "hey Rhys! Have you seen the Paladin?"

"Check the office?"

But Danse wasn't there either. She was about to panic and call for Nate when she heard voices coming from the bathroom.

"And that one?"

"That's called an exfoliant. Helps buff the skin, softens it. My wife used to love them."

"And that?"

"That one's yours. I've been experimenting with gourd blossom, it's got a really clean, subtle scent, thought it might suit you..." Nate trailed off when he realised Haylen had quietly opened the door and was stood watching them.

Danse and Nate swiftly buried Nate's bag behind him.

"Haylen," Danse said, as though she hadn't caught her commanding officer sitting on a bathroom floor discussing soap with a wastelander.

"Paladin. What's going on here?" Haylen asked, doing a poor job of hiding her grin.

"Nothing," Danse replied, abruptly, "something I can do for you?"

"Oh...oh it can wait."

"Then you're dismissed."

Haylen stifled a giggle and obediently closed the door. She waited for a few seconds before she heard Nate say, "so I've also made this out of hubflower, give it a sniff, what do you think..?"


End file.
